BOULDER — March came early!
The Colorado Buffaloes knocked off the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats 79-63 Saturday night in Boulder. The win was Colorado’s second ever against a team ranked first or second in the nation, with the last coming against Oklahoma State in 1992. Colorado has now beaten at least one ranked team in 10 of head coach Tad Boyle’s 12 seasons as head coach. The Buffs’ record improves to 19-10 overall and 11-8 in Pac-12 play. The loss was Arizona’s third off the season.
Here’s what we learned:
Jabari battles Mathurin
The headliners in Saturday’s matchup were clear.
Arizona’s Benedict Mathurin is a likely lottery pick in June’s NBA Draft, while Colorado’s Jabari Walker is also likely to be chosen. A handful of NBA front office personnel were in attendance to get a first-hand look at the pair of prospects, including Denver Nuggets President Tim Connelly.
Walker and Mathurin went back and forth in the first half. Mathurin made three of his nine shots, good for 12 points. Walker put up 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting. But the scoring went dry for both in the second half, with Walker scoring two points and Mathurin failing to make the scoresheet.
The difference between the two, though, was Walker’s ability to affect the game on the glass. While his 14 rebounds shouldn’t be overlooked, Walker was also a force as a defender in the paint. Nothing came easy for the Wildcats and Walker finished the night with a steal and a pair of blocks.
Walker’s presence is starting to be felt more and more, whether he has the ball or not. His explosive capabilities on both ends of the floor give him a gravity that he’s starting to exploit.
With only a handful of opportunities left this season, don’t be surprised if we see Walker take one final step forward.
Julian takes the start
It’s safe to say that Julian Hammond won’t forget his first collegiate start.
Hammond, a freshman who has averaged about 10 minutes per game, took over as the starting point guard on Saturday. It was the first time all season that Keeshawn Barthelemy wasn’t in the starting lineup. Head coach Tad Boyle said after the game that the change shouldn’t be seen as a slight for Barthelemy. Boyle just wanted to shake things up after a brutal loss on Thursday. He also noted that K.J. Simpson likes to play off the bench.
Hammond didn’t play as much as you’d expect from a starting point guard; his 20 minutes were his third-most of the season but both Simpson (29) and Barthelemy (24) played more than him.
Overall, it was quiet night for Hammond. He scored seven points on 3-of-5 shooting with a rebound, an assist, a block and a steal. He made a great pass on CU’s second possession of the game when he drove into the paint and waited patiently for a cutting Jabari Walker to take the ball and score.
The news of the night wasn’t Hammond’s play, it was Boyle’s decision to shake up a starting lineup that has been stable all season outside of a couple of injuries. Given the Buffs’ success, don’t be surprised if we see the same group starting next Saturday at Utah.
Tristan da Silva steps up
Colorado’s crafty forward put together one of the best performances of his young career against Arizona.
Tristan da Silva scored 19 points, his second-best total ever. He hit seven of his 10 shot attempts and added three rebounds and an assist. The most notable stat might be his zero turnovers, considering he’s had at least one in every game this season.
The difference for da Silva on Saturday was his ability to finish at the rim. Of his seven made baskets, six were layups and most of them were contested. He showed off incredible touch around the rim with an ability to finish his layups from a variety of different angles.
Da Silva’s footwork was on full display on the way to the rim. On one possession, he backed down a smaller player as far as he could before taking advantage of the defender’s poor defensive position with a drop step and easy score. His feet were sharp and he was able to get past defenders with ease.
He’s shown the footwork before but the finishing ability caught up on Saturday.
